Tafsir for verses: 20:40, 20:41
إِذۡ تَمۡشِيٓ أُخۡتُكَ فَتَقُولُ هَلۡ أَدُلُّكُمۡ عَلَىٰ مَن يَكۡفُلُهُۥۖ فَرَجَعۡنَٰكَ إِلَىٰٓ أُمِّكَ كَيۡ تَقَرَّ عَيۡنُهَا وَلَا تَحۡزَنَۚ وَقَتَلۡتَ نَفۡسٗا فَنَجَّيۡنَٰكَ مِنَ ٱلۡغَمِّ وَفَتَنَّٰكَ فُتُونٗاۚ فَلَبِثۡتَ سِنِينَ فِيٓ أَهۡلِ مَدۡيَنَ ثُمَّ جِئۡتَ عَلَىٰ قَدَرٖ يَٰمُوسَىٰ ٤٠ ﴿40﴾ وَٱصۡطَنَعۡتُكَ لِنَفۡسِي ٤١ ﴿41﴾
40(Remember) when your sister was going (to the family of Pharaoh) and was saying, ‘Shall I lead you to one who nurses him?’ Thus We brought you back to your mother, so that her eyes might have comfort and she might not grieve. And you had killed a person, then We brought you out of the trouble; and We tested you with a great ordeal. Then you lived a number of years amidst the people of Madyan. After all this, you came O Mūsā, to a destined point of time. 41I have fashioned you for Myself.
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Commentary

His saying, exalted and majestic is He:

﴿When your sister walked and said, "Shall I direct you to one who will nurse him?" So We returned you to your mother that she might be comforted and not grieve. And you killed a soul, so We saved you from distress. And We tried you with a great trial. And you remained for many years among the people of Madyan. Then you came at an appointed time, O Musa﴾ ﴿And I chose you for Myself﴾.

The operative in "When" is an implied verb whose estimation is: and We bestowed favor when. The interpretation of this verse has been previously mentioned in the story referred to earlier. A group read: "that she might be comforted" with a فتح on the قاف, and another group read: "that she might grieve" with a كسر on the قاف. The soul that he killed is the soul of the Egyptian who was fighting the Israelite, and Musa struck him, and he died. And "distress" refers to the distress of the soul, and Musa's distress, peace be upon him, was due to his desire for revenge.

And His saying, exalted is He: ﴿And We tried you with a great trial﴾ means: We saved you with a great salvation. This is the statement of the majority of the interpreters. A group said: Its meaning is: We tested you. According to this interpretation, it is intended only what he was tested with after reaching maturity and being charged with responsibility. What was before that does not enter into the testing of Musa, peace be upon him.

The number of his years among the people of Madyan was ten years; because he fulfilled the longer of the two terms. And His saying, blessed and exalted is He: ﴿at an appointed time﴾ means: at a specified time for the prophethood that Allah intended for you. And from this is the saying of the poet:

He attained the caliphate when it was destined for him, just as Musa came to his Lord at an appointed time.

And His saying, exalted is He: ﴿And I chose you for Myself﴾ means: I made you a place of favor and a center of goodness and kindness. And His saying: "for Myself" is an expression of honor. This is like when you say: "the House of Allah" and similar expressions. "And fasting is for Me, and I reward for it." And He expressed by "Myself" the intensity of closeness and the strength of the specialty.

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Ibn AtiyyahʿAbd al-Ḥaqq ibn Ghālib Ibn ʿAṭiyyah
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